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Physics teacher Mr Hivey is National Sailing Champion
Physics teacher and Southport sailor Mr Hivey has won the RS 400 National Championships and will be competing for the champion of champions title early in October.
Competing against 70 of the top British two person teams at a blustery Mount Bay in Cornwall, the teacher and former pupil, produced a stunning series of races with three first places, two seconds, a third and three fifth spots to dominate an event that he had thought he had little chance of winning.
Mr Hivey completed his victory with another Merchant Old Boy past 1st XV Rugby captain James Stuart, the winner of 10 national titles with three Champion of Champion titles.
A former Olympic squad member, Mr Hivey, has once again been catapulted back into the top rank of British sailors, but believes his dreams of Olympic glory are in the past.
"I have been sailing since before I could walk and always dreamed of being an Olympian, but at 28 my chance has really gone and if I was to pursue that dream again I would probably only get a low level of funding."
Instead he now hopes to develop sailing at here at Merchants, taking 11 aspiring sailors each Tuesday to Southport Marine Lake to fine-tune their skills.
He said: "Merchant Taylors' has a fine tradition in sailing, but sailing is one of the most demanding sports. Indeed, it was graded as the most demanding sport in the world by the Sports Foundation in 2005 and to become a competent let alone great sailor demands years of dedication, training and practice."
He added: "The sport also demands tremendous fitness and stamina, and hours of time consuming preparation to your boat. In terms of tactics and understanding different wind shifts, the sport has been likened to a game of chess on water, but I feel it's probably more difficult than that."
"So the young sailors I am now working with here know they have a long way to go to reach the required standard."
And Sir should know! He was in the same squad as Olympic great Ben Ainslie and having seen the stern of the triple gold medal winner in a succession of races.
Mr Hivey said: "He is simply untouchable you just can't get near him. He is the Tiger Woods or Roger Federer of our sport and it was just a privilege to be in the same race, let alone team."
